longest USENET thread ever

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Jeff Robertson

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Jan 19, 1994, 8:30:35 PM1/19/94
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What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?


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Andy Wardley

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Jan 20, 1994, 10:30:09 AM1/20/94
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Jeff Robertson writes:
>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

This one.

Andy "I hope this goes on forever or I'm gonna look a fool" Wardley

: , , This Spot (Not Allowed) is in no way dedicated
Andy Wardley : -o o- to anyone called Derek, Dave or Terry, Lemurs,
a...@oasis.icl.co.uk : l Leader Kibo, Odd Physics, GIFs or eMOTTOicons.
std dsclmr avlbl : - This line still available - call 0800-SIGRENT.
Kip Crosby tried to escape but I got him back.

Ernst 'pooh' Mulder

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Jan 20, 1994, 5:12:27 PM1/20/94
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Andy Wardley writes:
>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>This one.
It does go on, doesn't it?

pooh
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Thomas Beagle

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Jan 20, 1994, 6:00:22 PM1/20/94
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Jeff Robertson <JROB...@ua1vm.ua.edu> wrote:
>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

This one.

Every article ever posted has just been a follow-up to the first
"Hello world" post...

--
Thomas Beagle | ,__o I was human once, but I'm better now.
Technical Writer | _-\_<, tho...@geac.co.nz
Wellington, NZ | (*)/'(*) +64-4-385-0988 (home) +64-4-233-8186 (work)

Tom Salyers

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Jan 21, 1994, 12:26:33 AM1/21/94
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In a previous article, po...@brokendrum.stack.urc.tue.nl (Ernst 'pooh' Mulder) says:

>
>Andy Wardley writes:
>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>This one.

>It does go on, doesn't it?

He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
--
Tom Salyers "Now is the Windows of our disk contents
IRCnick: Aqualung made glorious SimEarth by this Sun of Zork."
Denver, CO ---Richard v3.0

Liam Relihan

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Jan 21, 1994, 6:23:53 AM1/21/94
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Tom Salyers writes:

>Ernst 'pooh' Mulder says:
>>Andy Wardley writes:
>>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>>This one.
>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too long...take it to e-mail.


Liam "tired of it all" Relihan


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Jeff Robertson

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Jan 23, 1994, 8:28:29 PM1/23/94
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In article <CJxpq...@dsbc.icl.co.uk>

a...@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Andy Wardley) writes:

>
>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>
>This one.
>
>Andy "I hope this goes on forever or I'm gonna look a fool" Wardley

Hmmm.... I wonder how we can get the net legends/loons/gods/etc. to post
in this thread ? Mention their names, maybe ?


> : , , This Spot (Not Allowed) is in no way dedicated
> Andy Wardley : -o o- to anyone called Derek, Dave or Terry, Lemurs,
> a...@oasis.icl.co.uk : l Leader Kibo, Odd Physics, GIFs or eMOTTOicons.
> std dsclmr avlbl : - This line still available - call 0800-SIGRENT.
> Kip Crosby tried to escape but I got him back.

Ahh. you've done it.

David Hall

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Jan 24, 1994, 2:36:12 PM1/24/94
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a...@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Andy Wardley) writes:

>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

Who knows, but I bet the current flame war concerning Vichael on alt.irc
has got to be in the top five. It has been going on for WEEKS and has
easily made up fifty percent of ALL postings to alt.irc in this time.
In fact, I would say closer to 70% but I don't like putting my neck out
and so will only be quoted as saying 50% ;). All told, probably 5 to
7 hundred messages in my estimate....

If my numbers are off, you may sue me for my 80088 w/ hercules graphics
and a 30 Meg hard.


Ernst 'pooh' Mulder

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Jan 24, 1994, 2:44:27 PM1/24/94
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Jeff Robertson writes:
>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

Andy Wardley writes:
>This one.

If 'longest thread' doesn't necessarily mean 'thread with the highest count
of followups' but 'thread with the longest printout' there's an easy
opening for a new record...

pooh 'sorry, don't blame me!'

John William Chambless

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Jan 24, 1994, 11:22:24 PM1/24/94
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In article <2i17vc$p...@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>,

David Hall <deh...@hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu> wrote:
>a...@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Andy Wardley) writes:
>
>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>
>Who knows, but I bet the current flame war concerning Vichael on alt.irc
>has got to be in the top five. It has been going on for WEEKS and has
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Not a record at all.

>easily made up fifty percent of ALL postings to alt.irc in this time.


>In fact, I would say closer to 70% but I don't like putting my neck out
>and so will only be quoted as saying 50% ;). All told, probably 5 to
>7 hundred messages in my estimate....
>
>If my numbers are off, you may sue me for my 80088 w/ hercules graphics

^^^^^^ I want one of THESE!
Let's see...off the top of my head, not looking in the archives...
There's the "how do I remove a file named '-' from comp.unix.wizards...
( at least a year so far..)
The " 'move' is less intuitive than 'copy-and-delete' thread from this
humble newgroup ( 3 or 4 months, and still kicking! Hi, Mike!).
The "Furrymuck is for lameoid perverts" thread that Joel Furr keeps
firing back up on alt.fan.furry...
And let's not forhget the "Imminent Death of the Net" theme, which has echoed
at least since the first FidoNet gateway...(or was it Compu$erve?)

Do the cyclical "september threads" count as continuous?

--
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* "If you lie to the compiler, it will get its revenge." Henry Spencer
* I'm not an opinionated jerk, but I play one on the Net.
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Howard Crosby Warren

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Jan 25, 1994, 3:11:50 AM1/25/94
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David Hall <deh...@hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu> wrote:

>a...@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Andy Wardley) writes:
>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>
>Who knows, but I bet the current flame war concerning Vichael on alt.irc
>has got to be in the top five. It has been going on for WEEKS and has
>easily made up fifty percent of ALL postings to alt.irc in this time.

I just ran into a series of 'ritual genital mutilation' posts on
some group (alt.folklore.urban? It's crossposted to a million places
anyway..) -- THAT thread was very strong at least two months ago!

--
Howard Crosby Warren cro...@ren.psy.jhu.edu
Department of Psychology
The Johns Hopkins University

ae...@minster.york.ac.uk

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Jan 25, 1994, 5:09:45 AM1/25/94
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In article <CJz8z...@ul.ie>, Liam Relihan <reli...@ul.ie> wrote:
>
>Tom Salyers writes:
>>Ernst 'pooh' Mulder says:
>>>Andy Wardley writes:
>>>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>>>This one.
>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too long...take it to e-mail.
And the thread grows longer by the day...


Merk

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Jan 25, 1994, 5:39:41 PM1/25/94
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What about the Gravis Ultrasound vs. every other sound board war over on
alt.ibm.pc.hardware.soundcard (or whatever its name is) ?
It's probably been going on since the GUS was introduced.

merk.

R S Rodgers

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Jan 25, 1994, 6:01:04 PM1/25/94
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In article <2i26q0$7...@whale.st.usm.edu>,

John William Chambless <cham...@whale.st.usm.edu> wrote:
>>In fact, I would say closer to 70% but I don't like putting my neck out
>>and so will only be quoted as saying 50% ;). All told, probably 5 to
>>7 hundred messages in my estimate....


So are we talking longest lasting, or most posts? My own
creation, "Feminist Stupidity Disorder" has lasted for months
(since August? Maybe September) in the alt.feminism/soc.men/soc.women
groups where it is crossposted. In the beginning it created a
small flood of postngs that made up ~50% of the postings to a.f.
It's even kept on topic, as a matter of fact , so it's not just a
subject title that stuck with postings.

Because of the ease of baiting, though, some groups (like af) ought
to be excluded.


>Do the cyclical "september threads" count as continuous?


How about the ongoing, never ending "Is circumcision bad?"
and "Make money fast!!" threads? Both of those are short in
length, but huge in volume, and constantly recurring.


--
New .signature under development. Start your development now! Beat the crowd!

da...@gilly.cca.org

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Jan 25, 1994, 8:58:52 PM1/25/94
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cham...@whale.st.usm.edu (John William Chambless) writes:

>Let's see...off the top of my head, not looking in the archives...
>There's the "how do I remove a file named '-' from comp.unix.wizards...
>( at least a year so far..)
>The " 'move' is less intuitive than 'copy-and-delete' thread from this
>humble newgroup ( 3 or 4 months, and still kicking! Hi, Mike!).
>The "Furrymuck is for lameoid perverts" thread that Joel Furr keeps
>firing back up on alt.fan.furry...
>And let's not forhget the "Imminent Death of the Net" theme, which has echoed
>at least since the first FidoNet gateway...(or was it Compu$erve?)

Those are all recurring, not long-running.

>Do the cyclical "september threads" count as continuous?

It's moot now. September 1993 will go down in net.history as the September
that never ended.

-<=>- Dave Fischer -<=>- Help Fight Ambient Light! -<=>- da...@cca.org -<=>-

Andy Wardley

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Jan 26, 1994, 6:09:25 AM1/26/94
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>Liam Relihan wrote:
>>Tom Salyers writes:
>>>Ernst 'pooh' Mulder says:
>>>>Andy Wardley writes:
>>>>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>>>>This one.
>>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
>>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too long...
>>take it to e-mail.
>And the thread grows longer by the day...
How long is a piece of string?

A

John Todd West

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Jan 26, 1994, 8:21:34 AM1/26/94
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: >>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

: >>>>>This one.
: >>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
: >>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
: >>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too long...
: >>take it to e-mail.
: >And the thread grows longer by the day...
: How long is a piece of string?
If this keeps up much longer, it'll start to cascade, and then the string
will be as long as it takes to wrap up at least eight bored users.

Hg

John Todd West

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Jan 26, 1994, 8:23:36 AM1/26/94
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R S Rodgers (rsro...@wam.umd.edu) wrote:
: It's even kept on topic, as a matter of fact , so it's not just a
: subject title that stuck with postings.

Obviously not a real thread then. ;)

Hg

Liam Relihan

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Jan 26, 1994, 9:31:57 AM1/26/94
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Get a life or this stupid thread will outlive you

Liam

Dave Woodman

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Jan 26, 1994, 8:35:15 AM1/26/94
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This long. Why ?
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==============================================================================

Matt Simmons

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Jan 26, 1994, 12:43:35 PM1/26/94
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Merk (me...@sage.cc.purdue.edu) wrote:
: What about the Gravis Ultrasound vs. every other sound board war over on

: alt.ibm.pc.hardware.soundcard (or whatever its name is) ?
: It's probably been going on since the GUS was introduced.
What about c.s.a.a? =) (The whole thing)

zar...@cs1.bradley.edu Illinois has two seasons: Winter and Construction
___________ _______________________________________^___ Headlights?
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Sri Palindrome.151

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Jan 26, 1994, 11:28:47 AM1/26/94
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John Todd West (todd...@raptor.sccs.swarthmore.edu) wrote:
: : >>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
How long is too long, though?

Ernst 'pooh' Mulder

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Jan 26, 1994, 2:44:27 AM1/26/94
to

In article <2i17vc$p...@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>,
deh...@hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu (David Hall) writes:

>><forgot-who> wrote:
>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>
>Who knows, but I bet the current flame war concerning Vichael on alt.irc
>has got to be in the top five. It has been going on for WEEKS and has

WEEKS? This group currently has threads ('Ignorant user stories' for one)
that were also running a couple of years or so ago, when I first started to
read this group.

pooh

Raymond Chen

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Jan 25, 1994, 11:37:01 PM1/25/94
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In article <16F431125...@ua1vm.ua.edu> JROB...@ua1vm.ua.edu (Jeff Robertson) writes:
>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

I believe the winner is ``MAKE.MONEY.FAST''.

Andy Wardley

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Jan 26, 1994, 1:02:43 PM1/26/94
to
>::>>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?

>::>>>>>This one.
>::>>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>::>>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
>::>>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too long...
>::>>take it to e-mail.
>::>And the thread grows longer by the day...
>:: How long is a piece of string?
>:If this keeps up much longer, it'll start to cascade, and then the string
>:will be as long as it takes to wrap up at least eight bored users.
>How long is too long, though?
Eight characters, if you ignore the terminating NULL.

A

Ernst 'pooh' Mulder

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Jan 26, 1994, 2:58:55 PM1/26/94
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Liam Relihan wrote:
>Andy Wardley wrote:

>>ae...@minster.york.ac.uk wrote:
>>>Liam Relihan wrote:
>>>>Tom Salyers writes:
>>>>>Ernst 'pooh' Mulder says:
>>>>>>Andy Wardley writes:
>>>>>>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>>>>>>This one.
>>>>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>>>>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
>>>>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too
long...
>>>>take it to e-mail.
>>>And the thread grows longer by the day...
>>How long is a piece of string?
>Get a life or this stupid thread will outlive you
Super water absorbant thread bits? Anyone?

pooh 'knowingly posting to surely the silliest thread in the history of
USENET, oh what is the longest descriptive middle name ever encoutered on
USENET?'

Buddha Buck

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Jan 26, 1994, 5:54:05 PM1/26/94
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In article <2i48bg$q...@cville-srv.wam.umd.edu>,

R S Rodgers <rsro...@wam.umd.edu> wrote:
>In article <2i26q0$7...@whale.st.usm.edu>,
>John William Chambless <cham...@whale.st.usm.edu> wrote:
>>>In fact, I would say closer to 70% but I don't like putting my neck out
>>>and so will only be quoted as saying 50% ;). All told, probably 5 to
>>>7 hundred messages in my estimate....
>
>
> So are we talking longest lasting, or most posts? My own
> creation, "Feminist Stupidity Disorder" has lasted for months
> (since August? Maybe September) in the alt.feminism/soc.men/soc.women
> groups where it is crossposted. In the beginning it created a
> small flood of postngs that made up ~50% of the postings to a.f.
> It's even kept on topic, as a matter of fact , so it's not just a
> subject title that stuck with postings.
>

I don't think that it matters if the subject title changes, since for
instance this thread has already changed subject title, but is still
the same thread. It's even changed topic (now we're discussing what
makes a long thread, not what is the longest thread).

I think it should count if it is a THREAD, not separate postings on the
same topic. This means that Make.Money.Fast wouldn't count, since it
usually isn't threaded (each initial posting counts as a new thread).

> Because of the ease of baiting, though, some groups (like af) ought
> to be excluded.
>

Nah, they are Usenet too (well, Altnet...).

>
>>Do the cyclical "september threads" count as continuous?

I wouldn't count them, unless they truely are continuous... Can you
trace one back to an earlier, or is it simply a new freshman starting
a new thread on the same topic?

>
>
> How about the ongoing, never ending "Is circumcision bad?"
> and "Make money fast!!" threads? Both of those are short in
> length, but huge in volume, and constantly recurring.
>

As above, I wouldn't count it...

David DeLaney

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Jan 26, 1994, 11:32:22 PM1/26/94
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raym...@microsoft.com (Raymond Chen) writes:
>JROB...@ua1vm.ua.edu (Jeff Robertson) writes:
>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>
>I believe the winner is ``MAKE.MONEY.FAST''.

*Now* you've done it. It just showed up again (after extended absence from
any of the groups I read) on news.groups ...

Dave "stupid net tricks" DeLaney
--
David DeLaney: d...@utkux.utcc.utk.edu; ObQuote: `I suggest quoting 'J"K"P' and
'J"RR"P' both. --K' Disclaimer: Opinions? UTK?? Me??? BWAAAAHahahahaa <choke>
<snort> hee hee; Thinking about this disclaimer (or about theor. particle __
physics) may cause headaches. Vicki and Paul and Terry but not Joel. VR#: 0 \/

Jeremy Reimer

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Jan 27, 1994, 7:14:32 PM1/27/94
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In <94012608...@brokendrum.stack.urc.tue.nl> Ernst 'pooh' Mulder <po...@brokendrum.stack.urc.tue.nl> writes:
>In article <2i17vc$p...@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>,
>deh...@hellcat.ecn.uoknor.edu (David Hall) writes:
>>><forgot-who> wrote:
>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>
>>Who knows, but I bet the current flame war concerning Vichael on alt.irc
>>has got to be in the top five. It has been going on for WEEKS and has

>WEEKS? This group currently has threads ('Ignorant user stories' for one)
>that were also running a couple of years or so ago, when I first started to
>read this group.

Don't forget YNYBHTLW...

That thread has been going on for so long that people have been archiving
it for posterity.


--

Jeremy "OS/2ibo" Reimer
Founder and President, World Domination Inc.
(a division of Microsoft)

"Why do you want to go read news?"
"I want to see the frontier. Before it's gone."
- Kevin Costner, _Dances With Usenet_

Tom Watson

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Jan 28, 1994, 8:46:33 PM1/28/94
to
Am I missing something, or isn't Usenet the longest Usenet thread ever.
Still going after all this time. Its all the same subject, just the text
is changed from time to time, and flames repeated time and time
again.......
------
Tom Watson Not much simpler!!
t...@cypher.apple.com

Friedrich Fahnert

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Jan 28, 1994, 10:55:48 AM1/28/94
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In article <94012620...@brokendrum.stack.urc.tue.nl>,

Ernst 'pooh' Mulder <po...@stack.urc.tue.nl> wrote:
>
>Liam Relihan wrote:
>>Andy Wardley wrote:
>>>ae...@minster.york.ac.uk wrote:
>>>>Liam Relihan wrote:
>>>>>Tom Salyers writes:
>>>>>>Ernst 'pooh' Mulder says:
>>>>>>>Andy Wardley writes:
>>>>>>>>Jeff Robertson writes:
>>>>>>>>>What's the longest thread in the history of USENET ?
>>>>>>>>This one.
>>>>>>>It does go on, doesn't it?
>>>>>>He's makin' it up as he goes along!!! =)
>>>>>Goddamit...I'm tired of this thread...its been going on far too
>long...
>>>>>take it to e-mail.
>>>>And the thread grows longer by the day...
>>>How long is a piece of string?
>>Get a life or this stupid thread will outlive you
>Super water absorbant thread bits? Anyone?
I like long threads, please don't let this one die...


Peter Knoerrich

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Jan 28, 1994, 11:16:09 AM1/28/94
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fwfa...@w214zrz.zrz.TU-Berlin.DE (Friedrich Fahnert) writes:

We'll please everyone and make this a recursive thread (see Jeff Robertson).
---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
NetHack: "Your sacrifice sprouts wings and a propeller and roars away."
Peter Knoerrich, email: prkn...@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de

Feldman / Mark Jeffrey (ISE)

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Jan 29, 1994, 1:55:43 AM1/29/94
to

This line of reply is one post longer than the other one, as seeing as I
would *love* to be part in the creation of the worlds longest thread I'll
place my bet by posting here.

Kip Crosby

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Jan 29, 1994, 11:18:35 AM1/29/94